Love Can Be Cold
by blackerthanbleach
Summary: Is the cold hearted Toshiro finally falling in love?  And who might the lucky girl be? Certaintly not Ichigo's sister, Karin...
1. Chapter 1

**I do not own Bleach! All that good stuff is owned by Tite Kubo. I don't own soul society, Seireitei, shinigami, blah blah. I just play around with the characters. By the way, for this story, we're pretending like souls don't lose their memories once they get to Soul Society. Otherwise it won't make sense. Remember that, kay? Thanks and enjoy. ;) **

"Toshiro! Come on shorty, Ikkaku, Yumichika, Renji and I are going out for some sake! Lighten up and join us!"

Toshiro Hitsugaya, captain of the 10th division of Gotei 13 in Seireitei, looked up from his desk with his usual cold scowl at the strawberry blonde, excessively busty woman leaning against his doorway, a small smile on her pink lips. "It's Hitsugaya-taichou. How many times do I have to knock that into your useless head?" He asked, his voice as cold as ice. Rangiku Matsumoto, his lieutenant simply smirked at her captain, unaffected. This was his usual mood. "I see your height has changed but you certainly haven't."

Toshiro gritted his teeth. He liked Matsumoto, really. She was kind and caring, and managed to stay sane when the love of her life, Gin Ichimaru had betrayed the whole of soul society, siding with Aizen and the Espada. The war between the Espada and the Shinigami had ceased about 5 years ago, and all was peaceful. Yet sometimes, Toshiro heard suppressed crying from Matsumoto's room.

He had never forgotten the day his lieutenant had stumbled into his house, crumpled onto the floor, looking like a zombie, murmuring her beloved's name, over and over.

Yet she had absolutely no respect and couldn't do work for her life.

Toshiro shook his head to clear the thoughts, and glanced back up at Matsumoto. "I'd rather not come. It is the result of your constant sake drinking that you get absolutely no paperwork done, and you leave it all to me." He said.

She shrugged, grinning. "I'd never give up my sake! You're just jealous because I could outdrink you any day. Anyways, I'm off. If you wanna waste your days like this, suit yourself. Bye, shorty."

"I'm not short anymore!" Toshiro growled, standing up at his full height of 5 foot 10 inches. He'd had a huge growth spurt and was finally the height of a normal person. He was taller than Matsumoto, for God's sake. Yet she would never let him live down his short days.

But she was gone already. He could even hear her footsteps running down the hall, already talking animatedly about a sake drinking contest.

Toshiro sat back down at his desk, regaining his composed mask. It was second nature to him now, to not let any of his emotions show. He still couldn't erase the memory from his head… what started everything… what had killed him…

"Yo Toshiro, I've got a bit of a surprise." A familiar voice drawled, muffled from behind the thick wooden door.

Toshiro suppressed the urge to release his bankai already and obliterate anyone who wanted to interrupt his work again. He sounded like an old man, always wanting to work, but he had to finish the papers somehow. His fukutaichou wasn't planning on helping anytime soon, and he couldn't turn in a bunch of blank papers. When he wasn't working anyway, he was training.

"Call me Hitsugaya-taichou before you step foot in here." Toshiro said calmly.

He heard a sigh, a shuffling of feet, and then "Hitsugaya-taichou, may we be graced with your presence?" The voice was now laden with sarcasm.

Toshiro rolled his eyes, fixed a scowl on his face, and spun in his chair so he was facing the door.

"Make it quick." He said. He had loads of paperwork to get to; Matsumoto-san was clearly not coming back from her night out any time soon.

The door flew open, revealing Ichigo Kurosaki, the bright haired substitute soul reaper that had graduated and finally became a fukutaichou, second only to Rukia Kuchiki. He was stronger than Kuchiki, yet refused to be her taichou. Everyone in soul society knew that Ichigo and Rukia had something going on, yet they never admitted to anything and seemed to openly hate one another.

Yet, instead of only Ichigo, there was someone else next to him.

The girl was about 18, and 5 foot 5. She had midnight black, silky hair, tied back into a ponytail with her bangs hanging out. She had huge dark blue, almost black eyes, and pale skin. She bore a striking resemblance to Ichigo; she even wore Ichigo's trademark scowl. Toshiro noted that she also had a very high reiatsu, just as her older brother did. She was lean and yet muscular, with slight curves, markedly less than Matsumoto but definitely more than Rukia.

Toshiro made sure a sheet of indifference was upon his face before raising one eyebrow in question.

"This is my idiot sister, Karin, who managed to get herself killed today," Ichigo started, placing one hand unceremoniously on his younger sister's head. She scowled even harder and shook him off. "She came to Soul Society and we sent her to the academy and all, but they refused to take her. They said she was already strong enough and wanted her to train with you or something like that."

Toshiro balked (on the inside of course. Outside he remained icy cold, just like his zanapakuto.) Train with Ichigo's sister? No way in hell.

Why wouldn't the academy take her? She had to have at least mastered shikai if she wanted a chance with the 10th squad captain.

"No. Tell the academy I don't want to train with her." Toshiro said simply.

Ichigo rolled his eyes. "Can't, they said they wouldn't take her. I think they're afraid of her. She got really pissed at one of the instructors when he was trying to spar with her, and out came her shikai. It's pretty damn cool actually. But anyways, you're supposed to train her or whatever and then maybe she can join your ranks and-" Ichigo paused, pulling his vibrating phone out of his pocket.

"Oops, I'm gonna go meet up with Renji and Rangiku and the others. I'll see ya later, taichou." With that, Ichigo turned and left, slamming the door behind him.

Toshiro stared coldly at Karin Kurosaki, the reason he'd be getting no sleep tonight. The reason his paperwork would never get finished. The stupid girl was scowling at him, with her arms crossed, clad in a baggy blue soccer jersey and light grey skinny jeans.

"Well?" She asked, her voice reminding Toshiro of clear, ringing bells. Actually scratch that. More like clear, ringing, angry-as-hell bells.

Toshiro stood up, glaring icily down at the girl.

"Well what? You came here to train then? Show me what you can do before I kick you out."

Karin narrowed her eyes at him. "Stop acting so tough, Toshiro."

"Do not talk to me in that disrespectful tone, Kurosaki. It's Hitsugaya-taichou and I expect you to honor that. I am your superior." He said.

Karin, however, wasn't focusing on his title or status. She was quite shocked by how someone could have such a cold demeanor. She was really not so different; people tended to like her but think of her as very tough. She scowled a lot, but not like this guy, who seemed to have a permanent frown etched onto his face. And his face. She might have found his lean yet muscular build, pale skin, snowy white hair and extremely bright turquoise hair attractive, if he wasn't acting like she was a speck of dust on his shoe.

"Whatever… _Toshiro. _Now train me." Karin said, with a roll of her eyes.

The bright white haired boy crossed his arms. "Only when you call me Hitsugaya-taichou."

"I'm not gonna call you that, okay? There's nothing you can do about it."

"You _will _respect me, or I'm not doing anything for you, Kurosaki."

"Respect is not in my vocabulary."

"Then learn the word and come back when you're ready for training." Toshiro made to sit down- he wasn't one for arguing a subject too long. The girl was already making him very agitated, and if he got any angrier the room temperature was going to drop.

"I'm going to be trained right now, by you. I don't have to show you respect. You are not my superior."

"Yes, I am, Kurosaki! I am captain of the 10th divison and you will address me as so!"

"I will do no such thing, you narcissistic creep."

"THEN GET OUT OF MY ROOM THIS INSTANT!" Toshiro roared. He'd had it with the insufferable fool.

Toshiro was standing, and leaning across his desk, glaring at Karin, who was leaning forward on the other side of the desk, scowling fiercely right back.

The door banged open, revealing a very worried Yumichika Ayasegawa. "Hitsugaya-taichou, I'm afraid yelling so loudly isn't very beautiful! We could hear you all the way from the pub! We thought you'd met Aizen reincarnate or something!" Toshiro turned his head slowly, fixing Yumichika with the same look he'd been giving Karin. Yumichika's eyes widened and he backed away slowly. "Uh… I… I have to go do that… uh thing!" He said, turning and fleeing from the room.

The temperature of the room was already so cold a slight frost was on the desks. This was what happened when Toshiro Hitsugaya got worked up.

Renji showed up in his place not an instant later, his brown eyes wide. The laid back lieutenant of 6th divison looked thoroughly shocked. "Everyone in Seireitei heard that yell! Damn, Shiro, what's up your ass?" He asked, taken aback. Toshiro said nothing, to angry for words. Instead, he breathed heavily, in and out, in and out. The stupid Kurosaki girl across from him, however, wasn't quite as silent.

"If you yell at me again… I WILL TAKE MY ZANAPAKUTO AND SHOVE IT UP YOUR ASS!" Karin screamed. Renji covered his ears and shunpo-ed right out of the doorway, as the walls of the room shook. All at once, a whole crowd was standing outside of the 10th division captains' door. Toshiro was now sure that the whole of Seireitei had heard their screaming match. His scowl grew even more, if that was possible. "What in the hell is going on here?" Ichigo's voice rang out from the commotion.

Toshiro clenched his fists and looked Kurosaki Karin straight in the eye. "I will never train you. You show no promise." He said simply. Then he turned abruptly. The crowd parted and he left the room in a huff, a cloud of snow practically hanging over him.

"Toshiro, please get out of there! I've finished all the paperwork! You need to take a shower, you reek of sweat. If you train any harder you'll defeat Byakuya-san!" Rangiku pleaded with her taichou. It had been 2 days since his fight with Karin, and his anger had still not left him. Instead, the captain was training harder and harder, releasing all of his anger in long, powerful bursts. She couldn't even imagine how pissed off the guy was.

Toshiro didn't answer, instead just continued to beat the training dummy to pieces.

"Hitsugaya-taichou!" Rangiku yelled, fed up. At this, Toshiro dropped his zanapakuto on the ground. "What do you want?" He gasped, between worn out pants of exhaustion. "Hitsugaya-taichou. You are my captain and I care about you a lot. You are going to collapse if you continue like this. I understand that you're mad at Karin, but you can't go on like this." Toshiro sighed. He knew his lieutenant was right. He couldn't keep doing this; he had to go on.

"Fine. But I refuse to train that Kurosaki girl." He said, with an air of finality.

Rangiku ran a hand through her wavy hair. "We'll do what we can, okay, taichou? Now go to your house and clean up."

Toshiro's shoulders slumped in defeat.

"Rangiku… I appreciate your concern. But if I see that girl again, I assure you, I'm going to bankai her into little bits and pieces."

"She's not that bad, taichou."

"She told me she was going to shove her zanapakuto up my ass!" Toshiro protested.

Rangiku shook her head, suppressing a laugh, and left, to give her captain privacy.

Toshiro walked out of the training grounds, and into the main streets. He grabbed his zanapakuto and placed it on his back, shaking his shocking white hair while running his long fingers through it, to take away the sweat drops. His whole body was drenched, and shaking from training so intensely. His uniform was askew, providing a slight view of his muscled chest, and his white captain's haori was so wet it was see through.

The road was busy, and people turned to look at him as he went. Toshiro wondered why they were staring at him. He glared at a short, skinny blonde girl who was gazing at him, her cheeks tinted pink. She blushed furiously and walked away quickly. He just didn't understand it. Why was he even so angry, anyway?  
>His yelling the other day hadn't been that loud… had it?<br>And all the Kurosaki girl had done was refuse to call him by his proper title.

But it was more than that! The way she looked at him just infuriated him!

Maybe he just wanted her to look at him in a different way… like she looked up to him. No that wasn't it… he wanted her to look at him like he mattered.

Toshiro let out a sound of frustration, causing an elderly lady on the street to glare at him.

Why was he wasting so much energy thinking about the Kurosaki girl anyways? He needed to let it go. He wasn't going to be training her. He was just going to take a shower and eat some noodles and go do some more of the never ending paper work. Then he was going to visit Momo… she was doing better now, in the recovery center she was staying at. She was slowly being able to walk and do every day things. She still couldn't talk though. It turned out that she wasn't dead… just injured very badly.

He continued walking, oblivious to the women who ogled at him and the men who envied him.

Karin lay on her bed in her new house. After the whole episode with Toshiro 2 days ago, she'd felt incredibly guilty. And this was definitely an incredible feat. The feeling of guilt was new to Karin. She usually did things and lived life without regret. But this felt different. All she'd had to do was respect the guy, yet she'd been very rude.

After everything had gone down, and everyone had calmed down, she'd got the lecture of her life from Ichigo. And then even Rukia told her how important it was to respect Toshiro, because he was extremely dangerous when in a rage. Then, after being yelled at by Ichigo some more, she'd met a gorgeous, curvy woman with the hugest bust she'd ever seen. Her name was Rangiku Matsumoto, and she was second to Toshiro, so she knew him the best. As soon as she introduced herself, she'd high fived Karin and told her it was great that she'd stood up for herself, but she was being a little rude. She'd advised her to keep her spirit but not to insult Toshiro too much. Then she'd asked if Karin wanted sake.

Karin liked Matsumoto-san a lot, but had denied the sake.

After that, a huge muscled man with long, red hair and tribal tattoos had come up to talk to her; his name was Renji. He was great friends with Ichigo, and Karin immediately liked him. He was like an older brother. But she'd kneed him in the balls when he'd shown her to her new house.

What luck she had.

It was right next to Toshiro's. And their bedroom windows were facing each other's.

Apparently, Renji had picked it out by himself.

Karin got up from her bed and was about to go downstairs and eat something when a flash of white caught her eye. She couldn't help but be drawn to her window, where the burst of color had come from. Karin froze when she saw a sweaty Toshiro entering his room.

She was too proud to apologize, of course. She wasn't about to open the window and tell him sorry, of course. In fact, she'd rather be trained by her own baka brother than this guy. Just thinking of the way he'd yelled at her the other day made her angry. In fact, she wanted to go right there and punch him. Sure, she was guilty, a little bit. But he was mean and cold and icy. Karin was about to turn away and go back out of her room when Toshiro began stripping off his shirt and tossing it on his bed, his back to her. Her eyes traced the muscles in his tanned back, and a strange tingling feeling erupted in her stomach, her cheeks flaming red.

Finally, Karin managed to drag her eyes away from her window. She slammed the blinds down, sighing. She needed to get a freaking grip.

Maybe playing soccer would help her.

Karin grabbed the ball from a corner of her room and grabbed her cleats, skipping down the stairs. Even the prospect of playing was enough to make her smile and forget about all her worries. She'd face Toshiro and the problems the idiot caused after she finished a nice practice all alone by herself.

Screw that stupid captain. He meant nothing to her.

Right?

**Heh.. Toshiro sure means nothing to her ;)**

**I think Karin was a bit OOC at the ending, but I'm sure she'll be right back in character in the next chapter. Please rate & review, more chapters to come!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Thank you for all the reviews! Once again, I do not own bleach or the characters, all that goes to the genius Tite Kubo. I just enjoy Toshiro, Karin and their unlikely love.**

Karin put the black and white soccer ball down for a moment, hands on her knees, breathing hard. She'd been practicing for about 3 hours to release her anger and stress about the upcoming day. Tomorrow she'd have to report to Hitsugaya's office for training, with no exceptions. She was dreading it, but wasn't as angry as before. She was practicing in a nice open field right outside of the training area. Soccer was Karin's favorite sport; and she was good at it. If there was one thing to miss about the real world, besides her family, it was soccer.

Karin thought she should pick up the ball and go home; she was really worn out.

Tomorrow she'd probably have to shikai, which still exhausted her, and maybe even learn bankai.

She bent over, but as she was about to grab the ball, a flash of white hair and electric turquoise eyes startled her. All of a sudden, Toshiro Hitsugaya was kicking the ball, with perfect form and technique, towards the end of the field. Karin raised her eyebrows as he easily turned and came all the way back, kicking the ball along with him. Not a drop of sweat or a pant of exhaustion, although he'd come across the field and back in under 30 seconds.

"What the hell are you doing with my ball?" Karin asked, fixing the taichou with a glare. He simply smirked coldly at her. "Kicking it better than you can."

Karin scoffed. "As if. Anyways, I would like my soccer ball back, Toshiro."

The light in Toshiro's eyes died as quickly as it had come, leaving Karin to wonder if it had been her imagination the whole time. "What did I tell you about calling me that?" He asked, looking at her with a flat expression.

Karin picked up the soccer ball hastily. "Bye, taichou." She spat venomously, wincing as soon as the words left her mouth. Taichou? It just didn't seem to fit in her reference to him. But Ichigo had warned her that if she kept fighting with Toshiro, she might be exiled from Soul Society. And as much as she didn't want to respect the taichou, she obviously didn't need that.

Toshiro watched Karin go, white and black ball tucked securely under her slim arm. His chest ached slightly, with a pang of something unfamiliar. He couldn't quite place what it was, but there was something definitely there. He blamed it on sleepiness and waited until Karin was out of eyeshot; then started towards his office.

The girl would be the death of him.

* * *

><p>Karin lay back on her bed in her pajamas, her hair loose around her shoulders.<p>

Try as she might, she couldn't get the taichou out of her mind. She sighed, her eyes fluttering closed as she fell asleep silently in her dark room.

"Hey, Karin…" A smooth, velvety voice purred in her ear.

Karin jumped and turned around, her eyes widened at the boy she saw behind her. "Toshiro? What—what are you doing?" She asked, confused. A second ago she'd thought she was alone in her room, reading her manga. She'd got up to put it away, and all of a sudden the 10th division taichou was behind her? Toshiro was standing awfully close to her, his turquoise eyes looking deep and shockingly beautiful. They were also warmer than she'd ever seen them. "What do you mean?" Toshiro asked, running a hand through Karin's hair.

A dark blush spread across Karin's face as the taichou ran his long fingers through her dark locks. His pure white hair was falling in his eyes, and she wanted to push it away. Toshiro's muscular arm wrapped around her small waist, pulling her body into his. She fit perfectly with him, both of them molding together without a space in between. Karin's skin was tingling and she felt strangely tongue tied, which was a first for the usually witty girl. "Why are you- why- you-" Karin couldn't finish her sentence with the way his fingers were trailing across her collarbone.

"You have the darkest blue eyes I've ever seen in my life." Toshiro said softly, his lips grazing against Karin's ear. She sucked in a breath, her eyes fluttering closed, as Toshiro's soft, smooth lips brushed down from her ear, towards her jaw. "Thanks… I guess…" she managed to get out.

"But, you should really…"

Karin looked up, into Toshiro's face. "Really what? What should I do?"

"Wake up…"

"Huh?"

Karin's eyes snapped open.

"SHIT!" She screamed; she had 8 minutes exactly to get to Toshiro's office. "Shit, shit, shit, what the hell was that dream, that stupid dream, what is wrong with me!" She muttered, jumping out of bed. She was going to be late for her training session with Toshiro. It was all because of that damned dream! Why'd she even have it in the first place? What was wrong with her? She wiped the sleep from her eyes, pulling on some comfortable clothes and shoes. Karin tied her hair hastily and grabbed her zanapakuto, rushing out of her bedroom. "I'm late, so late, so late, crap! Oh, stupid Hitsugaya is going to _kill _me!" She cried, flying downstairs and out the door. The people in Seireitei stared at her as she ran as fast as she could, towards the 10th division office.

It didn't help in her race against time when a hand pulled her ponytail. "Karin, wait for a second! I need you to do me a favor!"

Karin stopped, closing her eyes in frustration. "What!" She demanded. Rukia was standing next to her, holding out a white, folded shirt. "I- I know this is a little rude, but well- I was- we were-" She stammered. Karin had never seen the short girl so tongue tied.

"Just spit it out already! I need to go!" Karin yelled, waving her arms haphazardly. She was going to be late for sure now. She had respect for Rukia, I mean, she was a taichou too, but she was going to be beaten to a pulp if she wasn't on time. "I need you to give this back to Ichigo, he left it at my house and Orihime Inoue is coming over today and I don't want her to see it because sometimes she insists on doing the laundry because she's just like that and she'll wonder why a men's shirt is in my hamper!" Rukia cried, stuffing the shirt in Karin's face. Karin's jaw dropped. "Why was my brother's shirt at your house in the first place?" she asked- but she'd already gotten some ideas of her own.

Rukia's face colored and she kicked Karin in the shin. "Just take it!" She yelled, turning and running off.

Karin doubled over, clutching her foot. The girl could really kick…

She eyed the shirt in her hand distrustfully. She didn't even want to know the kinds of things her brother and Rukia were doing that required Ichigo to take his shirt off. She really didn't. This just proved to her even more that Ichigo and Rukia had some sort of secret relationship. Karin resisted the urge to pull a face.

"Oh crap, I'm gonna be even later!" Karin muttered, remembering why she was rushing in the first place. She turned and continued to run down the street.

She banged on Toshiro's door just as the clock hit 9:01.

"Is that you, Karin?" A female voice rang through the door.

"Yeah."

"Come in, Toshiro's not here yet but I'll keep ya company."

Karin opened the door to see Rangiku splayed out on the couch across from the captains' desk, a bottle of sake in one hand and a pack of cards in the other. Across from her was Ikkaku Madarame, the bald shinigami who always denied his lack of hair. "Hey, you're Kurosaki's sister aren't you?" he asked, looking up as Karin entered. Karin made sure to drop her brother's shirt on the floor and kick it behind a table before she answered.

"Yeah, what's it to you?" Karin asked, scowling. She hated how people referred to her as Ichigo's little sister. She had a name, and she could make her own reputation without her baka brother butting in.

Ikkaku laughed. "Nothing, but I heard you insulted Hitsugaya-taichou pretty badly the other day. Said you were gonna shove your zanpakuto up his ass or something!" Karin glared at him threateningly. "I can always shove it up your ass, too, it doesn't really matter to me which idiot I injure-"

"There will be no shoving of weapons in the ass!" a cold voice yelled. Karin flinched and turned around to see Toshiro scowling at all of them. "This is our cue to leave…" Rangiku muttered. She and Ikkaku grabbed their cards and fled the room before Karin could blink. As Karin looked at the captain, her dream came flooding back to her, and she blushed suddenly. She still couldn't fathom _why _her mind had conjured such a ridiculous scene. Toshiro shook his head and made his way to his desk, rummaging through a stack of papers. He seemed to be looking for something.

After a few moments, he pulled out a sheet of paper. "What's that?" Karin asked.

"Your report." Toshiro stated simply, looking over it briefly. His eyes then rested on Karin again, and she felt the same weird feeling in the pit of her stomach. Like tingles, or butterflies; something. Toshiro, on the other hand, was trying very hard not to run his eyes down the length of Karin's figure. Trying to control his unreasonable desires, he looked back down at the sheet of paper, actually reading it this time. His eyebrows rose slightly when he read that she could, in fact, perform shikai. Her brother wasn't lying, then.

"Let's go, then." Toshiro said, putting the report down, and heading for the door.

"Go where?" Karin asked, scrunching her eyebrows together in confusion. Toshiro turned and froze; a strange emotion running through him. The girl looked so adorable with her puzzled expression- _adorable? _Toshiro mentally slapped himself. He'd meant _atrocious. _Adorable, atrocious. Both sounded the same.

He swallowed and looked away, walking out of the room. "Going to the training area, stupid." He said icily. Karin crossed her arms and followed him. She didn't understand why he was so infuriating!

They reached the training grounds in a few minutes, and Karin breathed in the air. It smelled different than the way it did in the living world. A pang of sadness coursed through her. She missed her baka father, no matter how unreasonable and loud he could be. She missed Yuzu too, and how she was always sweet, caring and smart. And her cooking was amazing! It was true that you didn't have to eat in Soul Society, but sometimes shinigami did it anyways.

Toshiro unsealed his zanpakuto, and wielded the long, silver sword named Hyorinmaru. He found himself greatly curious to what Karin's would look like. "Well?" He asked, raising one eyebrow. The girl seemed lost in thought.

Karin steeled herself. "Hado 31 Shakkaho!" She called, her palms facing Toshiro. A ball of red light flew from her hands and towards the taichou, who dodged it with ease. He wondered what Karin was playing at; she could obviously do so much more than throwing balls of kido at him.

"Hado 33, Sokatsui!" Karin yelled again. This time a much larger blue ball of spiritual energy came towards Toshiro. Yet again, he shunpo-ed out of the way. "You're going to have to try much harder than that!" Toshiro said, flash stepping behind Karin.

Karin sighed, but clenched her fists. She had to do this.

"Shakaku, horobosu!" (**Fire angel, devour)** She commanded. All of a sudden, her zanpakuto materialized in her palm.

Toshiro gazed at the long sword in Karin's palm. It was beautiful; the blade itself was made of pure gold, long and sharp at the end, and simply radiated with reiatsu. The hilt was ruby red with diamonds encrusted in it, and on the back of the hilt was written 'Hitokire.' (**Slice**).

He was so busy, in fact, admiring the swords beauty, that he barely had time to dodge Karin's attack. She charged at him and swung her sword, with perfect form, at his arm. Toshiro flash stepped out of the way and somersaulted over Karin's head; his keen eyes widening when he saw what happened as Karin swung her zanpakuto.

As it cut through the air, 7 flaming, six pointed stars flew out of its tip. They were made entirely of fire, and glittered and danced through the air. Toshiro landed neatly and waited for Karin's next move.

She came at him with all she had, swinging hard. Once again she missed as Toshiro flash stepped out of the way.

Karin grunted in frustration. She hadn't even landed one hit!

"Hado 33, Sokatsui!" Karin called. The blue kido ball swirled towards Toshiro, and as it did so, Karin shunpo-ed to behind Toshiro. As he dodged the kido, he just noticed her behind him. Toshiro turned and dodged again, in the nick of time; however, the point of one of the flaming stars grazed against his hand.

A shock of fire raced up his arm, accompanied by something else. The tip of the star felt like metal, like the point of a sword coated in flame. Toshiro had a feeling that's what it was. So the main part of the star was entirely fire, while the tips were like mini, flaming sword tips. Toshiro definitely wanted to see Karin's bankai, now. He clutched his burnt and bleeding hand to his chest slightly, and then swung his own blade.

Karin brought up Shakaku to block Hyorinmaru.

And then, as soon as the two swords touched, an aching, burning pain ran up Karin's shoulder.

"Argh!" She screamed, doubling over. Toshiro looked at her in confusion. "K-karin?" He asked, confused. And then a searing pain hit him, starting in his fingertips and coursing through the rest of his arm, up into his chest and his other hand.

"What the hell!" He yelled, gripping the hilt of Hyorinmaru harder. The pain was flowing now, even to his feet. Toshiro closed his eyes tightly, willing it to go away.

He'd never hurt so much in his life. It was almost like being electrocuted and burned at the same time.

"Toshiro, let go of your zanpakuto!" Karin yelled. At the same time, both of them dropped their blades.

The pain vanished instantly.

Toshiro stumbled and doubled over from the shock, while Karin was lying on the ground, still clutching her arm. "Karin. Are you okay?" Toshiro asked, horrified.

Karin looked up, breathing heavily. "Yes, I'm fine." She said, sounding more confident than she felt. She got up from the ground and crossed her arms over her chest, staring at her zanpakuto. "What the fuck was that!" Toshiro asked, outraged. He had never felt anything like that.

Karin sighed. "I guess even our zanpakutos' don't like each other."

Toshiro glared at the girl. "I'm not training with you anymore. We cannot risk these circumstances again."

Karin scoffed. "You sound like such an old man. Live a little."

Toshiro picked his

* * *

><p>zanpakuto up and sealed it. "How am I supposed to live when your zanpakuto is trying to kill me! You will be training with Matsumoto from now on."<p>

Karin let out a huff of angry breath. "Good. That's all I could ever ask for."

Toshiro let his gaze linger over Karin for a little while longer. He just couldn't fathom what had happened back there. What was up with their zanpakutos? Why had they reacted that way? The pain had been almost unbearable, and he was a captain for God's sake. There was something about this girl that really interested him. He didn't get it. It was rather strange.

They both stood across from each other for a little longer, while their breathing calmed. And then Karin sealed her blade and sighed. "Bye Toshiro!" she said, smirking slightly.

Toshiro's eyes narrowed the familiar anger and irritation rising in his veins. "I dare you to call me that one more time and see what happens."

But she was already gone.

* * *

><p>"You know what this means, Toshiro." Rangiku said, leaning back in her chair. Her captain had just finished telling her about the incident with his and Karin's zanpakutos. Rangiku had been more than mildly surprised that Toshiro had actually come to her for advice. She'd been <em>way <em>more than mildly surprised. In fact, she'd enveloped Hitsugaya in a tight hug, almost suffocating him with her chest.

She'd also jumped around the room singing praise for a few minutes, before Toshiro had threatened her with his bankai.

But when he'd named his problem, she'd been completely stumped. There was only one more option; Kisuke Urahara. They'd have to make a gateway to the living world and go there to ask him. Kisuke was kind of like a mad scientist in some ways. He owned a shop called Urahara Shoten in the living world.

"I know. I just don't want to go with that _girl." _

Matsumoto shrugged. "Well, unless you want this problem to stay forever, you're going to have to go with her. I'll get a gateway ready by tomorrow, okay? Then you two can go."

Toshiro sighed angrily. "Whatever."

It was going to be a very long day.

* * *

><p><strong>Guys, I probably did the fight scene incorrectly. In Bleach, I never really understood whether they had to command their shikai or not, and if the shikai was just having your zanpakuto and swinging it around, things like that. Reviews telling me how to better this would be greatly appreciated because I had about 7 tabs open about zanpakuto, shikai, and bankai, when I was trying to write this, and I'm afraid I'm more confused than ever now. So please tell if I did something wrong, I'm really nervous as to my many mistakes!<strong>


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: If I owned Bleach, I'd be in a mansion. Not in my 4 walled room with green walls typing this. And I'd also be a male. Which I'm not! ^.^**

Ichigo Kurosaki sat on his bed stared out of his room's window in Soul Society, a scowl plastered on his face.

"Something about that little midget really gets to me. He's different around Karin. It's irritating." He said to himself, glaring at a random cloud in the sky. He couldn't quite place it, but the 10th division captain always acted a bit strangely around his sister.

A pair of slender arms wrapped around Ichigo's waist, and he jumped. "Since you're not talking about me, when you say midget you must be referring to Toshiro, huh?" Rukia asked, looking up at her taichou. Ichigo permitted a soft smile to grace his face.

"Hey, you're actually right about something for once."

Rukia retracted her arms from around him and punched his arm.

"Watch it, baka!" she yelled.

Ichigo rubbed his arm, pressing his nose against the glass of his window even harder. "Shut up, Rukia, you witch! I'm trying to watch Toshiro come out of his office! I might get some evidence." Maybe Toshiro was using Karin to do all of his paperwork so he could go out and drink sake… However, that sounded a bit more like something Matsumoto would do.

"You're so paranoid. Stop being a stupid over protective brother, Strawberry." Rukia ordered, narrowing her eyes. Ichigo sighed, tearing himself away from the window.

"It's not my fault if I'm paranoid! When I was in the living world, I had to watch out for damn hollows, and now that we're here I have to watch out for people that might see us together."

Rukia blushed slightly. "Whatever. Opposites attract anyways. Karin and Toshiro are practically meant for each other, just watch; I bet in a month's time they'll be together."

Ichigo's eyes almost popped out of his head. "WHAT! WHAT DO YOU MEAN!" He yelled, excruciatingly loudly. Rukia growled and kicked him hard, in his stomach. The orange haired shinigami let out a yell of pain, and fell off of the bed, groaning. Once he had recovered, he got back up, a deep scowl etched onto his face once again. He took a deep breath, pressing his fingers to his temples. He still couldn't fathom what his taichou was talking about.

"I don't know what the hell you mean. They _hate _each other."

Rukia rolled her eyes, clamping her hands together. "You need to read more manga!" She said.

Ichigo clenched his teeth. "What kind of stupid ass manga fantasy romance do you read, Rukia! You're crazy."

She crossed her arms. "My manga is _not_ crazy. You'll see, Strawberry. Just wait and see."

"I'M NOT GOING TO WAIT AND SEE ANYTHING! I DON'T WANT THAT STIFF COLD TAICHOU NEAR MY SISTER!" Ichigo bellowed, once again pressing his nose against the glass of his bedroom window. He would murder that stupid captain if he ever went near Karin. Rukia's fist once again met Ichigo's face. "Do you want Ikkaku to hear you! Are you forgetting he lives next door? These are crappy thin walls."

The carrot-topped shinigami sighed, leaning back. "It's always hard to do stuff in here with you when you know he's listening. I think he suspects something."

"Yeah, well… it's worth it." Rukia muttered, looking away.

Ichigo's frown fell and he put two fingers underneath Rukia's chin, lifting it up slightly, enjoying the light pink tinge that spread across her cheeks. "It is, isn't it?" Ichigo laughed. Rukia grabbed his shirt and pulled him towards her so their lips met.

Ichigo wrapped his arms securely around the smaller shinigami's waist, her slender frame fitting right against his lanky form. "Well we're gonna have to be real quiet if you're thinking the same thing I am." Ichigo murmured against Rukia's lips. Rukia blushed, but eagerly tossed her haori off.

"Wait, Ichigo-"she whispered a few moments later, running her hand down Ichigo's now bare chest. The carrot-topped boy shivered at the touch and growled lowly. "What?" He asked, picking up Rukia's small fingers and kissing them.

"I know I always ask you this… but why did you refuse to be promoted to captain? I still would've been your lieutenant."

Ichigo kissed Rukia's neck for a few seconds, and then answered. "Because I want you to know that you'll always be first in my life." He said gruffly, looking away.

Rukia smiled widely, and pushed Ichigo back down on the bed.

Yes, they would have to be _very _quiet.

* * *

><p>Karin stepped out of her room, stretching. She hated waking up early. At least she'd had a good sleep this time; she wasn't plagued by dreams about her captain. She didn't even want to think about that- it still brought a blush to her face. And Karin had made it a point to blush as little as humanly possible. Not that she was really human, not anymore.<p>

She had to meet Matsumoto and _Hitsugaya-taichou _today at the gateway.

She hadn't really thought to bring any clothes, only a soccer ball. Hopefully she could squeeze in some time for playing, when Kisuke wasn't being crazy and mysterious.

Karin finally made it to the gates, where the busty strawberry blonde was leaning back against a pillar next to the portal, drinking some sake. She was surprised to also see Ichigo and Rukia also next to Rangiku, fighting with each other, like always.

Along with them were a bald guy with red markings around his eyes and an angry but calm looking man with spiky black hair. Ikkaku Madarame and Shuhei Hisagi. Ikkaku was having some sort of drinking competition with Matsumoto… and Shuhei was just unabashedly studying the fukutaichou's cleavage. Toshiro was next to them, his arms crossed and looking stiff. Karin noted that he was taller than his lieutenant. He really had grown a lot.

"Ah, you're here!" Rangiku said, smiling widely. Karin nodded, wondering if the lieutenant drank like this all the time. "Why are Ichi-nii and Rukia-san here though? And baldy and the punk guy?" she asked.

Ikkaku clenched his fists. "I AM NOT BALD!" he shouted. Karin ignored him, while Ichigo glanced slyly at Toshiro. While Karin didn't catch the look, Rukia and Matsumoto both did. "Just wanted to see you off, I guess." Ichigo lied, his tone gruff.

Karin frowned in confusion.

She didn't believe him at all. Now was not the time to ask, though.

Karin then smiled, narrowing her eyes slightly. "Okay, Ichi-nii. By the way, Rukia gave me a shirt of yours, telling me to return it to you. It seems you left it at her place! But I misplaced it… just thought you should know. Next time you and Rukia _spend time _together, bring your clothes back with you."

"A SHIRT! YOU LEFT A SHIRT AT KUCHIKI RUKIA'S PLACE? Ichigo, you didn't tell us you'd gotten lucky with your captain!" Ikkaku's voice pierced Karin's ears uncomfortably.

Ichigo blushed so hard his face was darker than his hair, and Rukia laughed nervously, red also flooding her face. "What? Karin, I don't know what you're talking about!" She said, desperately, one eye twitching.

However, everyone ignored her, and Matsumoto roared with laughter, waving her sake bottle above her head. "This calls for a celebration! Ichigo and Rukia are finally fucking!" She screamed ecstatically. Even Hisagi seemed to be suppressing a laugh.

Ichigo let out a yell of frustration. "WE ARE NOT DOING THAT! I WAS- SHE WAS- DOING LAUNDRY!"

Karin chuckled and she turned, walking through the portal to the living world quickly, Toshiro right behind her.

In a few seconds, the commotion of Matsumoto, Madarame, Hisagi, Ichigo and Rukia was long gone. Instead, it was replaced by a silence.

Karin turned to Toshiro, feeling awkward; and was surprised to meet his blue green orbs. The taichou's eyes were the same bright shade of turquoise, but they were sparkling; dancing with amusement. "So, Ichigo and Rukia huh? I always knew." He murmured. Karin fought to keep an uncharacteristic blush off of her face. "I didn't know you paid attention to anything other than paperwork." She said teasingly.

One side of Toshiro's lips twisted up in a half smile, half smirk. "You'd be surprised." He replied. Karin bit her lip. "I guess I would…" she said, more to herself than him.

But when she looked back, Toshiro's eyes were back- cold and hard as ice. "Let's go." He said gruffly, turning away.

Karin rolled her eyes indifferently, bouncing the soccer ball she'd brought with her off her knee as she walked. She couldn't help but worry a little bit when she thought of their situation. Why did their zanpakuto's react the way they did to each other?

"Hey… Toshiro?" Karin asked. He turned to her, a slight glare in his eyes from her neglecting to call him taichou, but otherwise not as angry as before. "Yeah?" he asked, unable to tear his eyes away from the girl's face. "Has Hyorinmaru ever reacted the way it did with Shakaku, to another zanpakuto?" (**Author: if you don't remember, Shakaku is Karin's zanpakuto) **Toshiro sighed. "No, that's the thing. I don't know what is happening. I tried talking to Hyorinmaru last night but he was making no sense at all." Karin sighed as well, looking down at her feet. She couldn't figure out what had happened yesterday. She'd never heard of zanpakuto's "hating" each other.

Karin felt a cold hand on her shoulder, and looked up, surprised. "Don't worry. I'm sure we can figure something out." Toshiro said gently. His eyes looked soft and Karin's stomach felt like it was doing flips. She shook the feeling off and smiled. "I hope we can."

Suddenly, a loud crash from behind Toshiro made him turn around, his hand leaving Karin's shoulder. "What the hell is going on in there?" He muttered. They'd already reached Urahara Shoten. Karin crossed her arms. "Dumb ass Kisuke, he's always dropping things. Let's go in and see if we can help him." Karin and Toshiro walked into the shop, the bell ringing as they entered. The store looked empty, and Kisuke was nowhere to be found. Neither was Yoruichi, the cat like shape shifter shinigami that was his childhood best friend.

There was another muffled bang from inside one of the back rooms, so the two ventured to one of the back hallways, and a few doors down they heard the noises louder.

"Ow, Kisuke, that actually hurt!"

"Usually it doesn't hurt; I've done that many times before."

"Yes, but not so rough!"

"Ahh… unh… "There was muffled groaning from inside the room.

"Faster… faster!"

"I'm- (pant)-trying-(pant)"

"Mmm… so much better… Come on!"

"I'm not _that _strong! Ahh… unh… (pant)-"

"There we go…yes!"

Toshiro's eyes widened and he backed away from the door, rapidly, Karin right along with him. All of a sudden, a long, drawn out groan was heard from the room.

"What- what- EWWW! TOSHIRO! I'M SCARED FOR LIFE! THAT WAS DISGUSTING! I NEVER WANTED TO- OH MY- KISUKE AND- YORUICHI- GOING AT IT!" She screamed, covering her ears, and jumping up and down. "Gross, gross, gross, gross!"

Toshiro winced and shook his head, squeezing his eyes shut, trying ignore the sounds coming from the room. He hadn't come here to hear something like _that._ He felt like throwing up at the thought of _Kisuke…_

"That was so wrong on so many levels." He muttered, the temperature in the room going down as his temper rose. "And to think the imbecile shop keeper would do it when he _knew _we were coming… stupid man! This is sickening-"

"Well, well, well, we were expecting you two!" Kisuke's voice rang out.

"GET AWAY FROM ME!" Karin and Toshiro yelled in unison, their voices echoing around the room. Toshiro's arms wrapped protectively around Karin as she covered her ears and buried her face in his chest.

"Oh! Didn't know you two were already here…" a female voice said. Toshiro raised his head to glance at the purple haired girl with an expression of disgust. "HOW COULD YOU DO THAT! I SHOULD KILL YOU FOR THAT! DIDN'T YOU KNOW WE WERE RIGHT OUTSIDE THE DOOR WITHIN HEARING RANGE! I THOUGHT YOU KNEW WE WERE COMING!" He roared.

Kisuke frowned, yet still eyed Karin, wrapped in Toshiro's arms, a twinkle of amusement in his eyes. "Whatever do you mean? We were just putting up a picture in Yoruichi's room…"

Toshiro's eyes widened and he released Karin immediately, who, at the same time, jumped from his arms, backward, running into the wall. Both breathed heavily, refusing to look at each other.

"You- you were just- we- I-" Toshiro stuttered.

Karin cringed. "Just- just don't ever do that again, okay? It just… it sounded- never mind!"

Yoruichi's golden eyes flickered between the two of them, then widened slightly as something clicked. "OH!" She exclaimed. She leaned towards Kisuke, whispering something in his ear. They exchanged a look- and then all of a sudden, both of them began to laugh loudly.

"HAHAHA! You baka! Oh my… GOD! No way," Yoruichi chuckled.

Karin scowled, crossing her arms. "What else were we supposed to fuckin' think?" She asked angrily. Toshiro rolled his eyes, which were now cold again. "This is _not_ what we came here for."

Yoruichi grinned, winking at the two of them. "Come on, you lovebirds; let's get to the front of the shop."

"_Lovebirds?" _Both Karin and Toshiro spoke at the same time.

"_YOU GUYS _were the ones doing suspicious things!" Toshiro yelled angrily, making his way to the front of the store. Karin clenched her jaw. "I do not like Toshiro in any way, shape or form."

"That's Hitsugaya-taichou to you!"

"Oh shut up, you white haired baka!"

"Idiot girl, if you—"

"GUYS!" Kisuke yelled. He peered at the two teenagers over the tip of his fan. "I need to see your zanpakuto's." He gestured to his desk, pulling the brim of his striped hat further down his eyes. Only Yoruichi spotted the smile that graced the blonde man's lips.

Both shinigami called on their swords, and handed them to Kisuke.

Karin bit her lip as the man overlooked their weapons. He sighed, looking up at them. "I can't really tell much from just looking… but I can give you some good advice. Just don't get mad at me!" He laughed nervously. Toshiro sighed. "Just tell us old man."

Urahara frowned, cocking his head to the side. "Well… I can feel the reiatsu coming off of both of your weapons, and – don't kill me- but they seem to have some sort of connection. It's sort of like… when two soul reapers… _make love, _sometimes; their reiatsu will mingle, but only for a short amount of time, maybe a few minutes. So this is rather strange."

Karin hurriedly widened the distance between herself and Toshiro. "I promise, we're not doing anything like that!" she said. Toshiro nodded his agreement.

Kisuke chuckled. "I know that!" he said brightly. "Have any of you tried talking to your zanpakuto's?"

Karin shook her head, while Toshiro nodded. "Yes… Hyorinmaru wasn't making any _sense, _though." Kisuke raised his eyebrow. "Well what did he tell you?"

Toshiro licked his lips before starting, and Karin found her eyes drawn to that particular part of his mouth. She dug her nails into her palm to focus.

"He said something about passion and emotions or something. He mentioned needing to figure it out by myself and where I'm supposed to be in life or whatever. It was all… just weird."

Kisuke grinned suddenly, stealing a look with Yoruichi, who was sitting on his desk, legs swinging back and forth. "Do you think..?" he started, smirking. The dark skinned woman let a broad grin cover her features. "Well, maybe!"

Karin frowned. "What is it?"

Kisuke Urahara pulled his hat down even more, smiling a bit. "You see, Kurosaki, there once was a legend about two zanpakuto's. It was said that these two swords were complete opposites of each other, but, somehow, _completed _each other. However, it all depended on the wielder. Only two exceptionally strong wielders could bring out the true power of their zanpakuto. Now, having one of these zanpakuto's isn't very common. It is said to happen every 500 years. But what is less common, is the chance of the two wielders meeting each other. Basically…" Kisuke fidgeted in his seat.

Toshiro walked forward, slamming his hands down on the table. "WHAT! Will you stop being so nervous?"

Urahara laughed nervously again, scooting backwards. "Yoruichi, why don't you finish the story?" he asked, smiling uncomfortably.

Yoruichi rolled her eyes. "Fine, fine. Just promise not to kill me, alright?" she said.

Karin and Toshiro both nodded impatiently. "Alright. So, basically, your zanpakuto's, when connected, will reflect what you both feel about each other. So the only way you can spar with each other _non-painfully, _is if you guys become friends or something."

Karin met Toshiro's eyes, and sighed, lost in their depths for a moment.

"There is a catch."

Karin sucked in a breath sharply. "What? What catch?" She asked.

Yoruichi bit her lip. "Well, Toshiro's zanpakuto has already reached its full potential, bankai. But yours, Karin, hasn't. And, according to this legend, when a situation like this occurs, it means that the wielders are, well, soul mates. And the only way to let out the bankai of the undeveloped zanpakuto is to fall in love with the other wielder."

Karin's eyes widened. "WHAT!" she yelled. "That- that can't be true!"

Toshiro gritted his teeth. "That is impossible! There is no such thing as a soul mate! Stop indulging in silly children's stories!" Kisuke shrugged. "Well this is the only possible explanation for the reason your zanpakuto's are acting up! Sorry!"

Yoruichi laughed, tossing her head back, her purple hair shimmering slightly under the lights. "You guys are too cute! Drop the act already." Karin raised one eyebrow. "What are you _talking _about!" The cat like shinigami crossed her legs, making herself more comfortable on the desk. "I can almost _taste _the sexual tension in the air!"

Both Karin and Toshiro eyed the woman like she was crazy. "What the hell are you talking about!" Toshiro yelled. "That's freaking insane, woman. Let's leave, Karin." He said, reaching for his zanpakuto. For once, the raven haired girl agreed fully with him. She didn't believe in the legend Kisuke and Yoruichi had told them. And there was no such thing as soul mates. Or sexual tension. Even though Toshiro was biting his lip right now, and they looked so inviting—

Damn. Focus.

A pale, strong hand shot out, suddenly blocking Toshiro and Karin. "Whoa, there! Not so fast. You guys are going to stay in the living world for a little while longer, at least until tomorrow morning. Matsumoto requested it!"

Toshiro groaned. "Stupid lady… she works under me, so sorry, Urahara. We're leaving."

"No, you aren't. You need a good rest from all the work you've been doing, captain!" Yoruichi insisted, grinning just like the chesire cat. "Go on, Kisuke and I were hoping for a little private time…" she threw a wink over her shoulder, and the blonde man smirked.

Toshiro froze. "In that case, we'll be leaving!" Karin exclaimed, running out of the store, Toshiro behind her.

They stopped on the front porch, and Karin sighed. So much for their visit to the living world. They'd just managed to walk in on a little risky business, and hear a children's tale.

"Do you really believe what they were saying?" she asked, looking up at the silver haired boy. He shrugged. "Not really. I'm just… a little confused to why our zanpakuto's acted like that."

Karin crossed her arms. "I'll train with Rangiku. I'll get stronger, and I _will _reach my bankai."

Toshiro smiled slightly. "I have no doubts about you reaching bankai." He said quietly. The shorter, black haired girl beside him set her mouth in a line of determination. "Good." She muttered.

"Hey, uh… do you… wanna play some soccer with me?" she asked, nervously bouncing the soccer ball she still held up and down. Toshiro smirked. "Against you? Too easy."

Karin's mouth fell open. "Is that a challenge!" She asked, stopping the bouncing of the ball. Toshiro didn't answer her, instead using shunpo to reach the nearest soccer field.

Karin followed quickly, meeting him by the long stretch of green grass.

And then they both began to play the sport they loved the most.

* * *

><p>Karin collapsed onto the grass, panting heavily. The moon was just coming out as the sky began to darken, filling the air with sounds of the living world; crickets, the sound of children and their mothers walking back home, the sound of <em>life. <em>

"You're pretty good." Karin said between breaths, looking at the boy above her. Toshiro had one foot on the soccer ball, his hands on his knees as he caught his breath. "So are you." He said, resisting a smile. The two had played soccer well into the morning and afternoon as well, only stopping once to rest. Both of their competitive natures had driven them to the point of complete exhaustion, where they'd both just called a tie.

Karin had to admit that she'd never seen someone who played with so much easy grace on the field.

"If I were still alive, I'd be so hungry right now." Karin murmured, as Toshiro dropped on the ground to lie next to her. "I'd probably come home and eat all of Yuzu's cooking. And then I would laugh when Dad tried to tackle Ichigo but failed miserably…"

Toshiro turned his head to study the girl beside him. He couldn't help but feel a pang in his heart as she described her home. She seemed so wistful. "Maybe next time we come to the living world we can go see your Dad." Toshiro suggested.

Karin grinned. "Are you being _nice _to me, Toshiro?" She teased with mock incredulity. The silver haired boy scowled and looked away. "No." he stated briskly. Karin rolled her eyes. "Lighten up."

Toshiro stood up, stretching for a moment. "Let's go." He said, holding out a surprisingly tanned hand. Karin took it, and he pulled her up, starting towards Urahara Shoten once again.

"Let's hope Kisuke and Yoruichi are done with their… _private time." _Toshiro muttered as they entered the small candy store. Thankfully, the two ex shinigami _were _done with their private time, and were both enjoying some noodles.

"Why don't you two go shower and go to bed? We prepared a room for you!" Kisuke said cheerily. Toshiro clenched his fists. "Come here, old man, so I can STRANGLE YOU TO DEATH!" he yelled. Luckily, Kisuke flash stepped out of the room before Toshiro could do anything.

Karin sighed. "You guys are so ridiculous. Can't you just let us leave instead of holding us here like hostages!"

The dark skinned lady just ignored her, smiling mischievously. "I don't know what you're referring to. Now if you don't mind, I'm going to go to sleep!" She walked gracefully out of the room, not before flashing a thumb up at a seething Toshiro.

Karin and Toshiro entered their room, which was in the back of the store. It was pretty spacious, with a bathroom and two futons, laid out next to each other, about 5 feet apart .The distance was much needed.

Toshiro pulled out some spare clothes from his robes, and Karin groaned inwardly. She hadn't known she'd be spending the night, and wasn't one to prepare for things just in case, so she had no clothes. "OI! Yoruichi! Lend me some clothes, will you?" She called out the door.

A bundle of clothes was tossed from across the hall into Karin's face, and she yelped slightly, stumbling. "Damn Yoruichi." She muttered, gathering the fallen clothing. "Are you done in there?" She yelled from behind the bathroom door; Toshiro had gone in a few minutes ago.

"Brushing my teeth." A cold voice responded.

Karin quickly changed into the clothes Yoruichi had provided while Toshiro was still in the bathroom, and then stepped in herself, intending to grab a spare toothbrush and clean her own mouth. But she stopped in the doorway, when she caught sight of Toshiro brushing his teeth.

Her eyes focused on his tanned back, and the lean muscles contracting as he moved his arms. Then there was his chiseled abdomen and six pack. His skin was a huge contrast compared to his hair, and his turquoise eyes were as big and bright as ever.

Karin cursed mentally when she realized he probably slept shirtless, and her eyes wandered to his legs, where a pair of loose black basketball shorts hung off his hips, just low enough to expose the tip of his boxers. Karin swallowed hard, shivering slightly.

"What are you looking at?" Toshiro asked, turning around.

Karin's eyes widened. "Nothing! Leave, I'm going to brush my teeth."

The silver haired shinigami shot her a look but left the bathroom, sighing as Karin began to clean her mouth.

His thoughts weren't all innocent though, either.

As she bent over the sink, Toshiro found himself eyeing the tight, dark blue tank top Yoruichi had given Karin. It hugged her curves, and left her collarbone and shoulders, as well as a small sliver of peach skin on her stomach, exposed. And he didn't even want to look at the tight grey shorts she was wearing. They showed off her long, long legs…

He turned around, hurrying to his futon and laying down. What was wrong with him? He seriously needed to go to bed.


End file.
